Vancouver Beavers
'' '' Founded: 2011 Owner: Ed Ross Placement: Division II Championships: 0 Team OVR: 87 Strength: Strong Passing Game Weakness: Inconsistent Defense Head Coach: Greg Forbes Captain: TE Carlos Coto (4th Year) '' '' 'Vancouver Beavers' The Vancouver Beavers have the ironic distinction of becoming the very first announced team to j oin the American-11 Football League in 2011. A team based in Canada was the first team to join the American-11 Football League. Irony aside, the Beavers more than earned that distinction as the city of Toronto made it known they wanted a team in the league. When the A11FL Candidacy Poll was released in the cities of Toronto and Vancouver in late 2010, it was seen by League executives as Jim Tading simply "doing his due diligence". Needless to say, no one expected Canada to budge on a football team outside of the NFL, mainly because even teams in the Canadian Football League '''struggled with attendance numbers. So when the results were tallied, to the surprise of everyone at Microsoft and the A11FL Board of Directors, Canada, particularly Toronto and Vancouver completely showed out in support, as the city of Vancouver gave a 93% approval rating, and the city of Montreal gave a 90% approval rating, finishing at #1 and #4 among the highest ratings. The decision at that point had to be made as to whether or not '''both '''cities would get teams. Tading ultimately decided to start with Vancouver. Before going public with the announcement that the A11FL was coming to Canada, fans were given the chance to vote on the team name, with the Beavers identity winning by a landslide. Ross continued the trend of catering the Canadian faithful by announcing a deal with former CFL Montreal Alouettes Assistant Coach Eric Forbes to become the Beavers' first Head Coach. It was a grand opportunity for the young, 30 year-old assistant to step from out of his father's shadow. His father Lou Forbes was well known during his time in the CFL and AFL, winning two Grey Cups with the Toronto Argonauts and two Arena Bowls with the San Jose SaberCats between 1993 and 2003. Forbes immediately began building up the roster by signing talent from anywhere he could, including inking a few CFL free agents to contracts, which did the team well heading into the first A11FL Draft in May of 2010. The Beavers were announced to possess the 11th pick, and used to select T Joe Brown out of Wisconsin. With that pick, Forbes felt he had solidified his O-Line heading into camp. Three days later the divisional standings were released, showing Vancouver was in Division II. But with just one pick in the Draft, he still lacked what he wanted most: a playmaker. Two weeks after the draft, reports surface that the Washington Valor, who possessed the 6th pick, were reportedly shopping their selection in TE Carlos Coto, as the team was reportedly seeking a package deal. Given how little value the first set of draft picks had, the Valor were not the only team willing to part ways with their selection. What made this interesting was that the player Washington selected happened to be at the '''very top of Eric Forbes' draft board. The player in question was a prototypical Tight End prospect with potential to be a very good player in the right system, former Texas Tech receiver Carlos Coto. Forbes immediately inquired about taking Coto off their hands. Logically, with the Valor being placed in Division III, Forbes understood their thinking of getting several good players over one "potentially" good one. It cost the Beavers three potential starters as well as $500,000, but within an hour, Carlos Coto was officially a Beaver. The Beavers, ironically enough, played their Inaugural Game versus the Washington Valor from Baton Ridge Stadium in Oklahoma City. The Beavers won the game 35-10. Vancouver went on to finish the season with a modest 9-6 record, but managed to make the Division II Championship. They fell to the Jacksonville Sharks 31-15. Over the next two seasons, the Beavers would remain a playoff team, but fail to make it past the first round. In that time, TE Carlos Coto developed from a prototypical TE prospect to arguably the best TE in the league, and the Beavers' top player. Entering the 2015 offseason, Eric Forbes knew he ha d to find a way to break the trend and get his star TE some help. It began by reinforcing the defense by inking former Jacksonville Shark DB Tiger Jones to a three year, $27M deal, as well as signing former Oakland Raider Javier Arenas to a similar deal. But his boldest move came during the 2015 Draft, when Forbes traded their #12 pick as well as their starting QB from the previous year to the Orlando Predators in exchange for their spot at #6. With that pick, the Beavers drafted QB Jesse Johnson II out of Illinois, choosing to take a chance on another prototypical player with a unique set of skills. Needless to say, the combination of Johnson to Coto proved lethal enough to propel the Beavers to their best season to date, as well as finding themselves back in the D-II Championship Game, once again versus the Jacksonville Sharks, who were demoted amidst a rebuilding year in 2014. The Beavers played hard, but key turnovers cost them dearly as Jacksonville once again bested Vancouver, this time 24-20. Despite failing to advance, Beaver fans remain optimistic that Jesse Johnson II will develop into the QB Carlos Coto needs to chase an Alpha Cup. Vancouver enter the 2016 season as early favorites to win Division II, with London and New Jersey well on their radar. 'Player Spotlight: Carlos Coto' Age: 27 Height: 6'3 Weight: 248 lbs. Position: TE A11FL Seasons: 4 Yrs Captain: 2 Awards: 3x A11FL All-Star(2013,'14 & '15) The rise of Carlos Coto from role player at Texas Tech to leader and star of the Vancouver Beavers is one of the best "feel good stories" of any player in the league. All throughout his early life, Coto dreamed of playing pro football. He excelled in both Pop Warner and throughout middle and high school, eventually landing a scholarship with Texas Tech, close to his hometown of Austin, Texas. But a devastating ACL injury prevented him from playing at all during his freshman and sophomore seasons while he recovered. His coaches then redshirted him for his junior year. He finished school early, but had not played a single down for Texas Tech. With one year of eligibility left and his degree already secured, Coto made it his mission to prove that he could play. He trained harder than ever before, and it seemed to pay off as he sat atop the team's depth chart heading into his senior year. His season started off strong through his first seven games until a personal tragedy derailed his season, as his father died suddenly of a stroke. Coto chose to keep the news to himself while he tried to play through the grief. A string of bad games led to him being benched, only seeing 30 snaps in his final five games. Texas Tech failed to qualify for a bowl game, and Coto quietly left the team. He wasn't seen again until the A11FL Rookie Showcase, where he played a modest game as coaches noted that he looked out of shape and unmotivated. But through counseling, he began to make progress both in his mind and on the field, as he greatly improved his stock with a strong showing at the combine. Despite his new attitude, it still came as a surprise when the Washington Valor selected him with the 6th overall pick. But less than a week after the draft, reports surfaced that he was being shopped by the Valor. A day after the team confirmed the rumors, he was informed he had been traded to the Vancouver Beavers in a package deal. He played well his first three seasons despite being unable to develop any real chemistry with any of the several QBs the Beavers allowed to take snaps in that time, even being named an All-Star for the first time in 2013. But consistentcy would elude Coto and the Beavers until 2015, when Vancouver traded up to grab a young signal-caller named Jesse Johnson II out of Illinois. With Johnson's help, Coto had a monster year, being elected to his second All-Star game, and getting the Beavers within a TD of advancing to Division I. Since joining the Beavers in 2012, Coto has worked to become one of the league's premier offensive playmakers, standing out as the feature player on an overall solid Division II contender. When his story was finally made public, he was praised for his toughness and strength, earning the respect of fans and his peers alike. He was elected Team Captain in 2014, a role he has no plans on relinquishing anytime soon. With the improved chemistry between himself and second-year signal caller Jesse Johnson II accompanied by an improved offensive and defensive line, how long before the Beavers chew their way into Division I? '''Strengths: '''Exceptional agility and speed for his position. Runs clean, precise routes with consistency. Above average hands, able to make a variety of catches when open, along the sideline and in traffic. Shows a high motor and fiery competitive edge. Solid blocker, known for clearing lanes when asked to block towards the sideline. Friendly personality, beloved by teammates and the media. Understands defensive concepts when facing zone coverage. '''Weaknesses: '''Undersized for his position, as his height is often exploited by assigning taller defenders to him in man-to-man coverage. Often struggles with his initial release off the line of scrimmage. While willing to block, a lack of core strength prevents him from holding defenders for long. Prone to play through nagging injuries and fatigue, which tends to affect his efficiency later in the season.